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The brownstone Sheriff's House (1857) and adjacent courthouse would be the center of the "First State National Historical Park" according to a bill introduced in Congress in Feb. 2011. This National Park would "preserve and interpret resources associated with early Dutch, Swedish and English settlement, as well as Delaware’s role in the birth of the nation and becoming the first state via ratifying the constitution".
This panorama was taken from the site of covered market stalls of the town market. They were accessed via the arch in the Town Hall (1832?) which was built to house meeting rooms for the town council and the Trustees of New Castle Common.
To the right of the sheriff's house was a two story jail and, behind a tall stone wall, the jailyard, whipping post and pillory. Immediately to the right of the jailyard is The Arsenal, now a restaurant site, formerly a public school and before that a one story arsenal built in anticipation of the war of 1812.
The statue is of William Penn, who in 1683 became the proprietor of Pennsylvania and its three lower counties (Delaware). He granted 1,000 acres outside of town in 1701 for common land for "the use and behoof of the citizens of New Castle". This Common still exists and the Trustees still use the income from this Common for this purpose.
Across from the sheriff's house is the Presbyterian Church, one of 7 which organized the first Presbytery in American in 1706. Present brick meeting house was built in 1707, a successor to the Dutch Reformed Church built in 1657 on the Strand side of the lot.
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The United States is one of the most diverse countries on earth, jam packed full of amazing sights from St. Patrick's cathedral in New York to Mount Hollywood California.The Northeast region is where it all started. Thirteen British colonies fought the American Revolution from here and won their independence in the first successful colonial rebellion in history. Take a look at these rolling hills carpeted with foliage along the Hudson river here, north of New York City.The American south is known for its polite people and slow pace of life. Probably they move slowly because it's so hot. Southerners tend not to trust people from "up north" because they talk too fast. Here's a cemetery in Georgia where you can find graves of soldiers from the Civil War.The West Coast is sort of like another country that exists to make the east coast jealous. California is full of nothing but grizzly old miners digging for gold, a few gangster rappers, and then actors. That is to say, the West Coast functions as the imagination of the US, like a weird little brother who teases everybody then gets famous for making freaky art.The central part of the country is flat farmland all the way over to the Rocky Mountains. Up in the northwest corner you can find creative people in places like Portland and Seattle, along with awesome snowboarding and good beer. Text by Steve Smith.
